Second Chances
by Alexandra Irene Spears
Summary: Alexandra O'Mackey realizes what a mistake she made in leaving her family, and wants to reconcile with Gabe.  Is she too late?


Author's Note: I've been a Sims 2 player for close to two years now, and I post on MATY, the Pirate Phorum, MTS, SimsCave, Simbology…among others.

Alexandra O'Mackey caught my attention when I got Seasons because, well, she has the same name as I!

Also note: Rose and Daisy Greenman do not exist in this story, as I detest Plant Sims (and Jason O'Mackey, IMO, is too cute to be the ultimate tree-hugger). In my game I deleted them using Pescado's batbox. Muahahahaha….

Second Chances

By Alexandra Spears

Alexandra O'Mackey stood before the green house at 211 Huckleberry Lane. It was starting to snow outside, and for a moment she gazed at the falling flakes in wonder, temporarily forgetting her nervousness.

She sighed as she lowered her head and pressed her palm to her forehead. _I can't believe I was so selfish as to leave them,_ she thought, tears welling up in her bright blue eyes. _I wanted recognition, and I'll just be recognized as a woman who ditched her family._

Straightening up and running her fingers through her medium-length red hair, she strode towards the front door and knocked.

The door opened, and there stood her ex-husband, Gabe. At the time of their divorce she'd thought him such a terrible nerd…but now the sight of the dark-haired, bespectacled man in front of her was a welcome one. Life at sea had been not what she expected, and right now to her the sight of Gabe O'Mackey represented to her safety and security-things she had taken for granted during their marriage. "Alexandra…," he said, sounding unsure. "Come in…."

"Gabe…I want to apologize for everything," Alexandra blurted. They'd talked on the phone the past few years, about their daughter Jules, who was now a teenager. Alexandra had been feeling so guilty…the memory haunted her, of a little girl with red pigtails standing at the doorway, wearing her pink pajamas, crying as her mother got into the taxi that would take her away….

Jules came into the living room from the kitchen. "Mom!" she said. "I was hoping you'd come home!

"Oh, Jules, I am so sorry!" Alexandra cried as she and her daughter rushed into each other's arms.

"I forgave you a long time ago," said Jules as she pulled back a little.

"You've grown up so much," said Alexandra as she gazed at her daughter, who had Gabe's dark blue eyes, but Alexandra's red hair.

"Yes, she has," said Gabe evenly. He sat down on the brown Club love seat and gazed up at his former wife. "I just want to know one thing, Alex-why? Why did you leave, exactly? Didn't I provide enough for you?"

"Yes, you did," said Alexandra as she sat down in the matching armchair. "I-I thought I heard the sea calling to me, and I wanted that kind of a life-or so I thought. I knew that Jules would be okay with you…you're such a good father to her…." She looked at Gabe. "I want to reconcile…Jules needs her mother."

Jules, who was standing near the fireplace behind the love seat, blinked. Gabe looked uncomfortable.

"What?" Alexandra asked.

"I-I have a new girlfriend. Her name is Patricia Wan," Gabe said quietly. "That reminds me…I need to call her…she should know about this…."

Gabe got up and headed for the phone. Alexandra felt the blood slam into her cheeks. Gabe had found someone to replace her-to take her place as Gabe's wife and Jules' mother? She wasn't sure who to be more furious with-Gabe or herself-or this interloper!

Jules sat down next to her mother. "I don't like Patricia at all," Jules said in a quiet tone. "She is so overbearing. She just came on to Dad…and you know how shy he is. I don't think he really knows what to do with her." Jules paused, glanced over her shoulder at her father, who was on the phone, then turned her attention back to her mother. "Dad really misses you. I think that's the only reason why he hasn't proposed to Patricia. Mom-win him back!"

Alexandra set her jaw. "I will," she said. "Don't you worry."

"So you think he'll pop the question at some point?" Cleo Shikibu asked her friend and roommate, Patricia Wan, as the two women, both of Oriental descent with black hair and brown eyes, sat in front of the television at their residence on Welsh Lane.

"If that Jules doesn't interfere," Patricia grumbled. "That girl seems to be bent on coming between me and Gabe."

"She must miss her mother," Cleo offered.

"No chance that her mom is coming back, she's off who-knows-where," Patricia snorted. "She has no idea what she's missing. Oh well, her loss."

Cleo sighed softly. Patricia was all Miss Popularity, but Cleo felt that her friend could be a bit nicer.

The phone rang. Patricia got up and answered it. "Wan residence, Patricia speaking," she said.

"Hi, Patricia, it's Gabe. Look-could you come over, please? There's something we need to talk about."

"Of course, Gabe, I'll be right over! Bye!"

Patricia hung up the phone and quickly hurried up the stairs to quickly fix herself up. Then she ran downstairs. "I'm headed to Gabe's-maybe he will pop that question! See you later!" she called to Cleo as she hurried out the door. Gabe's house was right around the corner.

At the O'Mackey house, Gabe and Alexandra were sitting next to each other on the love seat while they waited for Patricia's arrival. "So you want to reconcile," Gabe said slowly, sounding as if he'd been hoping she'd say that.

"Are you really in love with Patricia?" Alexandra demanded.

"I-I don't know…I'm not really sure about anything anymore," Gabe confessed. "I was sure that you weren't coming back, even though we were talking to each other…I thought you'd moved on…."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," said Jules as she jumped up, not wanting to interrupt her parents' conversation.

"Actually, I missed you, Gabe. A lot," Alexandra said. "Jules says Patricia's been rather nasty towards her."

"That's the first I heard about it," Gabe said, sounding a bit surprised. "I just figured Jules was mad because she felt that Patricia might replace you-and to be honest, I'm not sure where I want things to go with her."

"How about nowhere?" Alexandra said as she suddenly kissed him.

Gabe did not resist.

Suddenly, she felt someone jerking her hair. "How dare you!" a feminine voice shrieked. "That's _my_ boyfriend! Gabe-what are you doing with this tramp!"

Gabe and Alexandra looked up, saw an angry woman with black hair, wearing a yellow slicker, glaring down at them. "Oh-Patricia. This is Alexandra-Jules's mother," he stammered.

"My parents are talking about a possible reconciliation," Jules said, a bit of a smirk on her face.

"Alexandra was talking about it-" Gabe began. He was cut off by Patricia slapping him across the face.

"Hey-that was uncalled for!" Alexandra protested as she got to her feet.

"You-you've been trying to sabotage us from day one!" Patricia stormed at Jules, ignoring Alexandra. She shoved the teenager. Jules cried out in protest as she stumbled backward.

Gabe was on his feet. "There's no reason for that!" he snapped.

Patricia whirled around and faced Gabe. "Alexandra left you. She abandoned you and your daughter," she snarled. "She has no right to you!"

"Whatever Alexandra did, at least she never hit me when she was angry with me!" Gabe snapped back, angry now. "And she's big enough to admit that she was wrong!"

"What about you and me, Gabe?" Patricia demanded.

Gabe shook his head. "It's over between us," he said. "You attacked my daughter. You hit me! Look, I'm a pretty nice guy, but I am not going to stand for that kind of thing! Please leave."

Patricia stormed out the door in a huff, slamming the door behind her with a loud BANG!

The O'Mackeys sat down. Alexandra kissed Gabe on the cheek lightly, where Patricia had slapped him. "What about us, Gabe?" she asked.

"I'm going to go find a job," Jules said as she got up.

"She wants to be a journalist," said Gabe. He sighed. "Alexandra…you really hurt me and Jules when you left. Can I really trust you? I loved you so much. I enjoyed seeing you teach Jules to walk…caring for her…you were such a good mother."

"I admitted I was wrong," said Alexandra. "I never stopped loving you, Gabe."

"Did something-happen to you while you were at sea?" he asked quietly.

"Not really," said Alexandra. "Gabe…what all have you done with Patricia?"

"She just kissed me once, that was it," said Gabe. "It took me by surprise. She did show a lot of interest in me…and I thought maybe I was in love with her…but I'm not so sure."

"Gabe, did you stop loving me?" Alexandra asked.

Gabe seemed to think about that for a moment; Alexandra knew that he liked to think things over before replying, so she waited patiently.

"No," he finally said. "I-I think, deep down, I was hoping you'd come home." He smiled a little. "You're the only one I could really open up with…and I find I'm still comfortable doing so."

Suddenly, he got up and knelt before Alexandra. "Alexandra-will you marry me-again?"

At that point Jules was emerging from her bedroom. Alexandra glanced over at her daughter, then turned her attention back to Gabe. "Yes!" she said. "And let's throw a party!"

"Tomorrow, after work. Oh-did I tell you? Jason got married last week, to a girl named Lillian," said Gabe.

"Where will I sleep tonight?" Alexandra asked.

Gabe stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Good question," he said. He and Alexandra, after all, had been married before, and had obviously been intimate…but technically they weren't married to each other. He turned to Jules. "Can you and your mom sleep in my-well, our-bed upstairs?" he asked. "I'll take your bed for the night."

"Okay," said Jules. "You're going to invite Uncle Jason and Aunt Lillian?"

"We sure are," said Alexandra. "So Jason finally got married."

"He got lonely," Gabe chuckled. "Lillian's a really nice woman, too. She and Jason adore each other-they were made for each other."

"The way they go at it, I'll have a cousin before long," Jules giggled.

"And let's go on a honeymoon vacation," Gabe added. "How does Twikkii Island sound to you?"

"It sounds great!" Alexandra replied. "Just you and me, or are we going to bring Jules along?"

"I can stay with Uncle Jason," said Jules.

"Ask him first," said Gabe. He took Alexandra's hands. "I still have our old wedding clothes…we can wear those, like the first time around."

The following afternoon, Gabe invited his brother and sister-in-law over for the small wedding that was to take place. Alexandra wasn't sure what to say to Jason, who was going to be her brother-in-law again. She was sure that his opinion of her wasn't too favorable, given the circumstances.

In Jules' room, Jules and Lillian were helping Alexandra get ready for the wedding. Lillian O'Mackey was indeed a nice young woman. She had bright blond hair and eyes as blue as the winter sky outside. She was telling Alexandra about how she and Jason had met.

"I was new to this town, and would you believe, I got lost in a snowstorm at the edge of town," said Lillian. "Jason and Gabe were out exploring, and they found me. Jason took me home and took care of me…and we fell in love."

Alexandra had to grin at her daughter, who was blushing. No doubt Jules thought this a bit sappy.

"Your dress still fits, Mom," said Jules.

Alexandra stood up and gazed at herself in Jules' full-length mirror. She was wearing a white off-the-shoulder wedding dress. Her red hair was up, and blue flowers surrounded the updo and anchored the veil into place.

"I'm surprised this all happened so fast," Lillian commented.

"Gabe and I realized how much we loved and missed each other," Alexandra explained.

"I am so glad that Patricia is out of our lives," said Jules.

"Well, let's not talk about her and put a damper on things," said Alexandra firmly.

The wedding took place in the O'Mackeys' living room. Gabe and his older brother Jason, who also had brown hair and glasses, stood near the rented wedding arch. The two men looked up as Alexandra came out of Jules' room.

"You don't think I'm making a mistake, do you?" Gabe whispered to his brother.

"I think you can trust her. She faced up to what she did," Jason whispered back.

Lillian joined her husband, and Jules stood next to her aunt and uncle and watched as her parents stood beneath the arch together and held hands and said their vows.

"This time, it _will_ be until death do us part," Alexandra added after she'd said her vows.

The couple kissed, and the rest of the O'Mackey family clapped. When the kiss was over, Jason went up to his sister-in-law and hugged her. "Welcome back to the family," he said.

"I guess you don't hate me," Alexandra said.

Jason shook his head. "We all make mistakes."

Gabe and Jason started their little punching game, and Lillian went up to Alexandra and whispered in her ear, "I've met that Patricia. She is so stuck-up it isn't funny…she thinks she's all that and a bag of chips too. I'm glad that you and Gabe are back together."

"I take it Jason told you about me."

"Well, he just told me what happened-factually," said Lillian. "I thought it was a shame. I hate seeing couples split up like that."

That evening, the limo arrived to take Gabe and Alexandra to the airport. "Now you be good for your aunt and uncle, and remember to do your homework," Gabe told his daughter.

"I will-now you two have fun," said Jules as she hugged her parents. "Do you think I can have a little brother or sister?"

"We'll work on it," Alexandra said with a wink as Gabe's cheeks turned red. "I _would_ like to have another child."

"Well-we'd better get going, sweetie," said Gabe.

Jason shook his brother's hand. "Have fun on Twikkii Island," he said as he gave his sister-in-law a brief hug. "Lillian and I went there on our honeymoon. Very different from Riverblossom Hills."

Jules stood in front of her uncle and aunt and waved as the limo drove off. It was hard to believe that her mother had come back only yesterday.

"Come on, you two, let's go home. Jules has school tomorrow," said Lillian.

"That was certainly an unexpected turn of events," Jason said as the trio walked down Huckleberry Lane, to Jason and Lillian's house on Firefly Pass. "I don't think Gabe ever stopped loving Alexandra. I've never seen him so happy." He and Lillian were walking hand-in-hand.

"I've never felt so happy myself," said Jules.

Even on that dark winter's night, Jules felt as if the sun was shining. Her family was back together again.


End file.
